As Bosnia-Herzegovina prepares for its parliamentary and presidential elections on Oct. 4, concern is growing over the surprisingly low number of Bosnians living abroad who have registered to vote.
According to Central Election Commission (CIK) Chairperson Suad Arnautovic, 11,379 citizens living abroad accessed the e-Izbori platform, created user accounts and submitted registration applications between May 8 and early July. Of these, 7,779 fulfilled the requirements to participate in the elections, while another 1,037 applications are still being processed.
Particularly concerning, according to Arnautovic, is the fact that 1,037 applications were rejected, accounting for 9.11% of all submitted requests. The most common reasons were missing documents, invalid identification papers, lack of proof of residence abroad or unsigned forms.
The largest number of registrations came from Germany with 2,300 applications, followed by Croatia with 2,212, Austria with 1,223 and Serbia with 557.
Considering that the Bosnian diaspora is estimated at well over 2 million people, these figures appear disappointing.
